Laparoscopic War Strategizing
O’s advisors are working up three options Afghanistan troop options. Glad to hear he’s still working on that. I was a little concerned that, like some other federal agents, his eye was off the al-Qaeda ball. Here’s the status of the last three months of war strategizing, via NYT. Sounds like he’s taking pains to be minimally invasive:
WASHINGTON — Advisers to President Obama are preparing three options for escalating the war effort in Afghanistan, all of them calling for more American troops, as he moves closer to a decision on the way forward in the eight-year-old war, officials said Saturday.
The options include Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal’s request for roughly another 40,000 troops; a middle scenario sending about 30,000 more troops; and a lower alternative involving 20,000 to 25,000 reinforcements, according to the officials, who insisted on anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. Officials hope to present the options to Mr. Obama this week before he leaves on a trip to Asia.
No cruel eenie-meenie-miney-moe jokes, please. I don’t want to be so cynical as to suggest that in neat increments of 5,000 to 10,000, the president’s precision decision-making process smacks of micromanagement, a desire to show he’s no sap for generals, or some effort to please everyone. Clearly they’ve put a lot of thought into whether 5,000 or 10,000 in one direction or the other stresses the Afghan population more or less, stresses the U.S. military more or less. Presumably it reflects a precision response to some precise level of Taliban and al-Qaeda activity that McChrystal,* unable to see trees from his forest perch, was unable to discern, and a more advanced level of thinking on exactly how much harder or easier it needs to be for each soldier on the ground in Afghanistan to do whatever it is they are supposed to do with every last bullet and bean the American people send over there.
Something like that. I don’t know. But as an exercise in strategic brain surgery, it is impressive. Not just picking a halfway range between the opposing ears of no-more-troops and McChrystal’s full request and planting a medieval battleaxe in the patient’s forehead, but futzing about with digital knob-fiddling exactitude on multiple options in the mid-range. It certain creates a greater impression of thoughtfulness, like the president and his advisors really know what they’re doing. Not like some journeyman neurosurgeon left with the patient while the senior surgeon takes a potty break, who says “ummmmmm,” and takes a minute or three months to figure out whether that open cranium in front of him wants a scalpel, forceps or some kind of probey thingy.
It’s encouraging that the budding brain surgeon appears to have decided that handing the surgery off to onlooking janitor Joe Biden … despite nodding sagely to old Joe’s helpful broom-leaning pointers … is not advisable.
Hold everything. McClatchy reports an even higher level of laparoscopic tinkering … 34,000 troops. Interesting. The other 6,000 McChrystal was looking for clearly must be considered a costly counter-productive provocation of the Afghan people that will strain a war-weary America’s will to fight, when the real enemy is in Waziristan. Or Fort Hood, wherever.
Speaking of which, at three months … maybe just two, if you consider that the president didn’t actually bother looking at McChrystal’s report for a month or so … he’s still way ahead of the federal agents who did nothing with a domestic al-Qaeda threat for six months.
(Come on, guys, let’s be fair. As Reynolds notes, the Obama admin has been more intensely focused on other domestic security worries.)
OK, strictly playing devil’s advocate, here’s a question for the brain surgeon intern rap session: If we’re not serious about fighting them over there, and we’re not serious about fighting them here, where are we going to be serious about fighting them?
HotAir: “And now the war has to wait for Obama to get some face time in Asia? Why not wait until after the Christmas shopping season?” Well, that’s when the Senate was supposed to maybe get around to the health care thing, so theoretically he’ll be kind of tied up then. Though the House wants to look like they’re accomplishing something, that may ratchet things up.
Don’t forget the actual warriors who’ve undergone real surgery. Donate via Team Marines. All Valour IT proceeds go to buy laptops and specialized electronics for war-wounded vets.
* The asterisk next to McChrystal’s name doesn’t indicate any supplemental footnote information, it is merely intended to denote that henceforth, as a field commander, he has one. An asterisk next to his name.
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Topics: Afghanistan, Obama
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 10:44 am on Sunday, November 8, 2009
4 Responses to “Laparoscopic War Strategizing”
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November 8th, 2009 at 12:06 pm
[...] wonders if Obama will ever do his freaking [...]
November 8th, 2009 at 12:16 pm
[...] Jules Crittenden takes a look at President Obama’s laparoscopic war strategizing. [...]
November 8th, 2009 at 6:49 pm
[...] Jules Crittenden: O’s advisors are working up three options Afghanistan troop options. Glad to hear he’s still working on that. I was a little concerned that, like some other federal agents, his eye was off the al-Qaeda ball. Here’s the status of the last three months of war strategizing, via NYT. Sounds like he’s taking pains to be minimally invasive: [...]
November 9th, 2009 at 12:11 am
If I were McChrystal I would think about getting some extra armor plates for my back since the only thing covering my ’six’ will more than likely be of the automatic form.